Response of Five Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum) cultivars to Manure and Their Tolerance to Root-Knot Nematode (M. Incognita) Infection

Abolusoro Stephen , Ige Sunday , Aremu C.O , Adekiya A.O , Adebiyi Ojo , Obaniyi Kayode , Agbojo Danie , Izuogu Besty , Hinmikaiye A. S

Abstract: Experiment was conducted in screen house in two consecutive years (2017 and 2018) to investigate the differential response of five tomato Solanum lycopersicum cultivars infested with root knot nematode under both organic and inorganic manure application in order to determine the most resistant among the tested cultivars with the view of recommending such cultivar(s) to farmers who may wish to go into large scale production of the crop in Southern Guinea Savannah ecological zone Nigeria. Poultry manure was used as soil amendment and was incorporated into the soil at the rate l .42t/ha while NPK was applied at the rate 266kg/ha. The experimental design was5x2x2 factorial experiment, made up of five tomato cultivars, (Tropimech, rio grande, Dan hausa, Igede and Omuaran local) and two manure type (Poultry and N.P.K fertilizer) and two application media (Inoculated and uninoculated). Data were taken on Plant height, number of leafs, Stem girth at 6,8, 10, and12 weeks after planting, number of flowers and number of days to 100% flowering, number of fruits, fruit weight (Yield component), Soil nematode population and root gall index. Data were subjected to analysis of variance and means were separated using Least significant difference (LSD) test. The results of the experiment showed that poultry manure recorded the highest vegetative growth and yield potential even under high level of nematode infestation. Igede local showed the highest level of nematode infection tolerance despite the high level of M. incognita infestation. It is the highest yielding among the tested cultivars under organic amendment condition and the most tolerant to nematode infection.

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